The Very Best
by ThreeBlackCats
Summary: Damian al Ghul-Wayne sets out on his pokemon journey to prove himself as heir of Team Lazarus and along the way makes friends and connects with his family.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or Batman or any affiliated books, characters, and games**

North Gotham, a suburb of Gotham City, didn't look anything like what you'd expect something with "Gotham" in the name to look like. The name Gotham brought to mind gargoyles, heavy overhead clouds, and an excess of crime. This was all true of Gotham City but North Gotham was different. It had been founded by the richer inhabitants of Gotham City a few generations previously when a group of them had looked around and realized that the city was a rather miserable place and they had the money to get out.

There were large mansions with larger gardens on either side of the main road. Each garden filled with greenery. A few patches of grass filled the small spaces between the estates. The grass would shake sometimes indicating the presence of a few wild pokemon. At the end of the main road was the biggest mansion with the biggest garden; Wayne Manor, home to the richest man in Gotham (and North Gotham).

One day a pair of individuals appeared in North Gotham and headed down the main road, in the direction of Wayne Manor. The first was an elegant woman, fashionably dressed, with dark skin and hair. She carried herself with confidence and looked around with a slightly disdain full air as though she had seen it all before. The second was much smaller, a young boy about eleven years. The similarities between his appearance and the woman's left no doubt that he was her son. The boy was attempting to copy his mother's casual confident disdain and not quite succeeding.

His name is Damian and he is the main character of our story. Her name is Talia and while she is not the main character of our story she is still quite important.

"I thought you said that Gotham was dark and gloomy," Damian said.

"It is," his mother responded. "But this is North Gotham. It's entirely different." The walked in silence for a little while, drawing closer to their destination.

Eventually Talia began to speak again. "Now I want you to remember everything I told you. You are here to complete your pokemon journey and prove your worth as the heir to Team Lazarus. Don't waste your time with side tasks. Don't get too chummy with your father's strays. Take advantage of anything your father may have to teach you. He has some misguided ideas but he is the strongest pokemon trainer in the Justice Region. Don't let anyone know you know who the Champion Batman is. I don't pretend to understand why your father insists that no one know he's the champion of the pokemon league but that is his choice."

"Yes, Mother." Damian put his hand in his pocket where he was keeping the pokeball that contained the starter pokemon his mother had gotten for him before they left the Team Lazarus headquarters. It was a zubat and Damian had nicknamed him Goliath, though he hadn't told his mother that.

"Your grandfather and I have high expectations of your abilities which I am certain you will live up to. You can return to Team Lazarus as leader once you have completed your journey and defeated your father." At this point Talia and Damian had reached the front gate of Wayne Manor. They stopped and Talia pressed the button for the intercom.

"Hello. Please state your name and your business." The voice coming out of the intercom was completely professional without a hint of emotion.

"This Talia al Ghul. I've brought Bruce's son to him."

"His son?" Now the voice sounded a little wary.

"Yes. Please let me in."

There was a buzz and the gate opened allowing the mother-son pair inside. They headed through the large garden toward the mansion.

Damian tried to remain as unimpressed as his mother was but he really couldn't. Team Lazarus had large amounts of wealth but they did not have a large garden like this. He could see pokemon flitting out of the grass. He tried looking around for nay bat pokemon before remembering that it was daytime and most bat pokemon wouldn't be out until after nightfall.

When Talia and Damian reached the house there was already an old man standing on the front steps waiting for them. He was dressed in a fine suit. He kept his face neutral until his eyes landed on Damian, when they widened in surprise.

"Ms. al Ghul…. might I ask what is the meaning of this?"

"This is Bruce's son. Is he going to be coming to greet us?"

"He had some work he needed to finish but he should be down soon." The old man continued to stare at Damian as though he didn't know how to pull his eyes away. Damian found himself growing uncomfortable under the unwavering gaze.

"Didn't anyone teach you that it's rude to stare?" Damian snarled. The old man blushed and finally turned away.

The door to the front steps opened and a large man came out. He had blue eyes and dark hair with a few grey stands peeking out. He saw Talia first and immediately started speaking to her. "Talia. I'm not sure what you are doing with any of my sons but if you've gotten any of them involved in some of your Team Lazarus-" He abruptly stopped speaking upon seeing Damian. "Um, hello." He turned to Talia. "I thought you said you were here with one of my sons."

Talia placed a hand on Damian's shoulder. "Bruce, beloved, this is your son. Yours and mine."

Bruce Wayne, for that is who this man was, turned back to look at Damian. "What? How old is he? Why didn't you tell me?"

"He's eleven years old. I've been raising him since he was a baby but I can't continue to do so. He's ready to begin his pokemon journey and he can't get a trainer passport if he's with me. He knows all there is to know about pokemon already and I've set him up with a starter."

"Wait." Bruce held up a hand. "We had a child together but you never told me about him until _now_. And you want me to take him in so he can go on his pokemon journey."

"Of course, beloved. I assumed you'd be perfectly willing to look after him. After all, you take in street rats at the drop of a hat…"

"I'm not saying that I'm not going to look after him if you can't. It's just…you never told me about him. How can you prove that he's mine?"

Talia reached into her purse and withdrew some papers. "DNA tests and blood work. I hope you don't mind that I kept some of your samples. So you will take him?"

"Well, yes."

"Then it's settled." She handed the stunned man the papers. She patted Damian on the shoulder one more time before turning around and leaving.

After Talia had vanished into the gardens Bruce finally turned to Damian and took more than a cursory look at him. "So…what's your name?"

"It's Damian." Throughout Bruce's exchange with Talia Damian had been quietly sizing him up. He had had a mental image of his father as strong, composed, and overall impressive man and trainer. Unlike the impressive gardens, this man seemed to be lacking. He had also expected him to be a bit taller.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Damian. I'm Bruce Wayne, your father. I suppose you already knew that. I guess you've already met Alfred." He gestured to the old man. "He's technically our butler but really he's family."

Alfred gave a slight nod. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Perhaps we should take this inside."

The trio headed indoors. One would expect, in a rich man's house, for there to be a lot of expensive decorations on display but there were surprisingly few in Wayne Manor. The wealth of the family was still demonstrated but through good furniture and a large chandelier instead of paintings and expensive vases.

"Alfred, could you get a guest room set up for Damian," Bruce said. "And can you call Dick and Tim down from upstairs to meet him."

Alfred nodded and headed upstairs. Bruce sighed before turning to Damian. "Do you know- "

"About your unfortunate habit of picking up strays. Yes."

"They are your brothers you know."

Damian shrugged. "-TT-"

A series of thuds announced the incoming presence of Bruce's other sons. The first one to appear at the top of the stairs immediately jumped on the railing and slid down. The second walked down like a normal person. Damian took a moment to size them both up. The first was a young adult, far too old to be sliding down stair railings, wearing a bright blue shirt and sweatpants. The second was only a few years older than Damian and looked like he had forgotten to go to sleep the night before. Damian wasn't sure which of his father's strays they were but they struck him as unsurprisingly pathetic.

"Hey Bruce! Who's this then?" The older boy placed his hands on his knees and leaned down so he was closer to Damian's height. As though Damian were a child that needed to be talked down to. "I'm Dick! What's your name?"

Damian blinked. He was pretty sure none of his father's strays had a name as…vulgar as that. "That's not your real name."

"Uh, yeah it is. It's short for Richard."

Damian couldn't understand how one could get Dick from Richard but at least he now knew who this one was. The oldest, the son of traveling entertainers unable to settle in one place before they got themselves killed, taken in by his father in a moment of weakness. Richard Grayson had challenged the Champion of the Justice League and failed. A subpar trainer compared to Damian's father and how he himself would be when he finished.

"This is Damian. He's going to be staying with us for a while." Bruce stepped into the conversation. "Damian this is Dick and Tim. They're your brothers."

"Don't be ridiculous." Damian turned on his father. "I am your son by blood. These are just a pair of orphans you happened to take a liking too. They aren't related to me."

Dick and Tim both stared at Damian then turned to Bruce. "Bruce, please tell me you didn't knock up some random woman." Dick sighed.

Bruce didn't answer. Instead he frowned at Damian. "They are your brothers. Apologize to them now."

Damian shock his head. "I will not."

"Why do you think you're so superior to us anyway?" Tim asked, speaking up for the first time.

"Because I am." Damian smirked. "My mother told me about you pathetic trainers that my father took pity on. You were supposed to start your pokemon journey a year ago, weren't you Drake? And yet your still here. Too scared to leave home?"

Tim's jaw dropped before snapping close again as he trembled with rage. "Well, if your mother knows anything she knows that the only reason I didn't go was because I lost my spleen to Team freaking Lazarus."

Bruce stepped between them. "Damian that was uncalled for. You will apologize. Tim, don't let him bait you."

"I said nothing that isn't true. Why should I apologize?"

"'Don't let him bait me'? He started it!"

Bruce ignored Tim and focused on the more troublesome boy. "What you said was hurtful and I'm sure you know that. Now apologize."

Damian couldn't believe that his father was backing this orphan over him. He had thought his mother was exaggerating when she told him how much his father liked the strays he took in. "I won't."

"Damian-" Bruce was cut off by a sudden cough. The group turned towards the stairs where Alfred was now standing at the bottom.

"I've fixed up young Master Damian's new room. Lunch will likely be ready in half an hour."

Alfred left leaving Tim and Bruce glaring at Damian, Damian ignoring his father to glare at Tim, and Dick desperately trying to figure out a way to disperse the tension.

 **Hello, I'm Three Black Cats. Welcome to this story. I usually don't write authors notes, however, since I've done a fair amount of world building for this AU I thought I should include them in this story in order to explain things that my not be obvious and to provide additional fun facts about the universe. I hope you've enjoyed the first chapter.**

 **This story takes place in the fictional pokemon region, the Justice Region. Which makes their pokemon league, the Justice League. Team Lazarus, is this universe's League of Assassins and are basically that evil team you always run into and fight in a pokemon game.**

 **If you any questions about the details of this universe you can leave a question in a review or PM and so long as I don't think the answer is a spoiler I'll answer.**

 **Thanks for reading.**


	2. Chapter 2

By the next morning Bruce had given up on trying to force an apology out of Damian. This did not mean he was happy with him or with the situation but he recognized that the child was stubborn and whole heartedly believed he was in the right. He needed to try and show Damian that he was in the wrong somehow so that he would apologize on his own.

But Bruce also needed to go over the DNA tests Talia had left him with to make sure they were real, help Tim finish getting ready for his pokemon journey, check in with Cass and Duke, figure out getting Damian started on a pokemon journey, spend some time with Dick before he went back to Bludhaven, and do his usual work for the Justice League which included fighting Talia and Team Lazarus and dealing with these new "Outlaws" that were springing up.

Oh, and the anniversary of Jason's death was last week. It always took him a while to feel normal again after that. (Everyone insisted it must get better as time went on. It didn't.)

Grudgingly, Bruce admitted something he didn't admit often. He needed help. Help that had the unspoken additional benefit of allowing him to avoid direct interaction with his latest headache for a while.

"So," Dick began as he leaned back in his chair. They were sitting across from each other at the desk in Bruce's office. "You want me to spend time with Damian in the hopes that my presence will magically make him want to apologize."

"No. I want you to take him to the pokecenter to get some blood work done so we can get this sorted out. Besides, the lack of apology isn't even the main problem with him. Damian is lashing out like that because he is, supposedly, my biological son and Tim isn't. I'm hoping that by spending time with another one of his brothers he'll realize that you are all equally my sons."

"OK. First of all, I feel like the father should be the one to demonstrate through his actions that he loves all his children equally. Secondly, while I have no objections to spending time with my newest brother I did come home to visit you, Tim, and Alfred."

"You'll still have time to visit. I'm not asking you to spend all your time with him, just take him to the pokecenter in Gotham City to get his blood tested. It'll take less time than a DNA test though if we need one we'll do that later. Then we'll find out if he is actually your brother."

"Bruce, he's got your eyes. And you're totally considering adopting him even if he isn't yours aren't you?"

Bruce didn't answer that, even though he knew that Team Lazarus was a terrible place to raise a child. "Will you or not?"

Dick smiled. "Bruce, I would have done it even if you hadn't asked. Ever since he got here Damian's been spending far too much time in his room. I'll corner him after lunch and take him to Gotham. Besides, I need to walk around some more."

(linebreak)

Damian he only left his room a few times since his mother had left him at Wayne Manor. There was a bathroom attached to the room so he was only forced to leave for meals. It was fairly large, as all the rooms seemed to be. Damian probably would have left his room more often if it hadn't been for his so called "family." Tim was still angry with him for speaking the simple truth, his father kept insisting he apologize to him, the butler was quietly disapproving, and Dick kept asking him questions. He failed to see why the older trainer had an interest in his favorite color. It wasn't like the information was at all important. Why would he even have one anyway?

It really was unfortunate that he couldn't leave without being harassed. He couldn't explore the rest of the very large house or look for pokemon on the grounds. He had been looking forward to finding the zubat and woobat caves. Goliath would probably like them. Besides, he needed to train Goliath some before they set out.

The guest room they had given him had a few books in it. They were all simple books with fairy tales and or basic pokemon facts. Damian was currently reading a story about the two legendary pokemon Nightwing and Flamebird who supposedly came from a far off world called Krypton. The whole thing was ridiculous. Damian could see why his mother had never let him read these sorts of things. If had started reading them when he was young and impressionable his mind would have probably rotted with stupidity.

A knock at the door pulled Damian from his reading. "Lunch is being served now, young master."

"I'll be down shortly." Damian closed the book and put it on his bedside table. Time to put up with his "family" again.

Lunch was tense. The few efforts by Dick to start conversation fell flat. Damian attempted to eat as quickly as he could without acting like an uncultured slob so he could get out of there. As soon as he finished his food he stood up to leave. He had no desire to spend any more time with his family.

To his surprise, Dick stood up too, even though he hadn't finished eating. "Damian, could I talk to you?"

"No," Damian said then left the room. Maybe if he moved quickly enough he could make his way out to the grounds before everyone else finished eating. He didn't really want to go back to his room. He rushed towards the front door and slipped out.

As Damian started walking around to the back of the house he reached into his pocket to double check that Goliath's pokeball was still in there. He didn't know what sort of wild pokemon lived in the gardens but he couldn't be sure they weren't aggressive. Now if he could just find those caves…

"Damian!" That was Dick's voice. Was he still following him? Damian picked up his pace and reached the back of the manor. Now where would you find a cave entrance? A hole in the ground?

"There you are. I'm glad to see you outside of your room." And now Dick had found him. Great. "I was hoping to talk to you. You've been here for a couple of days and yet you've barely spoken to anyone. We should get to know each other don't you think?"

"-TT- You are one of father's strays who failed his pokemon journey. That's all I need to know."

"It's impossible to fail a pokemon journey."

"Keep telling yourself that." How to get Dick to leave him alone now that they had started talking? Distract him somehow?

"Anyway, I still think we should spend some time together and get to know each other. Maybe we should talk on the way to Gotham City."

"Gotham City. Why are we going to Gotham City?"

"Oh, right. I forgot to mention. Bruce wants me to take you to the pokecenter in the city to have some blood tests done so we can verify the information your mother gave us. I thought we could do that this afternoon."

"There isn't a pokecenter in North Gotham. And you don't need to verify those test. They were made with the best state of the art equipment available."

"I know that. We'd be going into Gotham City. I've got a Talonflame that knows Fly. She can take us over there right now. We can hang out in Gotham some after we're done. Have you ever been to Gotham before? It'll be fun!"

"Gotham City is the crime capital of the Justice Region. I'm sure walking around there will be _so_ much fun."

"Gotham isn't that bad. Come on. I need to grab something and then we'll go."

Damian blinked. They were leaving now? He still didn't understand why they needed to go at all. Besides, he still wanted to find the caves. But Dick was acting as though it had already been decided that they were going.

He was curious about what Gotham City was like but he would be seeing it on his pokemon journey soon enough. But if his father and Dick were going to insist on getting these tests verified it was probably best to get it done sooner rather than later.

The sound of footsteps distracted him from his thoughts. Dick came back around the front of the house with a round package tucked under his arm. "Are you ready to go?"

Damian shrugged, which Dick took as affirmation. He took a pokeball out of his pocket and threw it in the air releasing a Talonflame. The Talonflame let out a cry upon seeing Dick and butted her head against him. Dick laughed and pushed her away, gently at first then a little more forcefully when the Talonflame bumped the package.

"Alright Damian, we're ready to go. Just be sure to hold on tight. Robin loves doing loops up in the air."

That didn't sound safe. Why was Dick smiling?

(linebreak)

Gotham City looked exactly like you'd expect a city with "Gotham" in its name to look like. The buildings were tall, looming, and pressed against each other. The skyscrapers seemed to be competing for which of them could sport the most gargoyles. Whether do to climate or pollution the sun was blocked by clouds.

Dick's Talonflame dropped him and Damian off in one of the few parks in the city. The plants in the park seemed to be of the opinion that death was better than life in Gotham City giving credence to pollution being the cause of all the clouds. After they landed Dick sent the Talonflame back into her pokeball and shifted his package in his arms.

"Here we are, kiddo! Gotham City!"

"Don't call me that." Damian's hands were in his pockets, where he had kept them for most of the ride over. He was still holding on to Goliath's pokeball, to make sure he hadn't fallen out while that bird was doing loops in the air, obviously.

"Right, we'll have to go to the lab first to get your blood sampled but after that we can hang out and do whatever you want. That sound fun?"

"-TT- Let's just get this over with."

The two made their way to the pokecenter that was located a couple blocks over from the park. When they stepped inside they were immediately overwhelmed by noise. The front room was crowded with people and pokemon all clamoring for attention for one of the doctors or nurses who were rushing around from patient to patient.

Dick sighed. "This might take longer than expected. I guess we'd better sit down."

Dick and Damian found a seat in a corner. Damian slouched over in his seat and tried to ignore the complete chaos surrounding him. Why couldn't they just take his mother's word and the test she provided them? Those were adequate proof, especially since Team Lazarus's scientific and medical technology was far superior than what was available in a common pokecenter.

"So while we're waiting, do you want to talk about anything?" Dick could not be serious. But he was. And smiling. He had placed his round package in his lap and seemed to be, stroking it?

"Why would I want to talk to you?"

"Because you're curious and have questions? You just moved into a new house in a new town with family you'd never met before. You can't tell me you don't have some questions about us."

Damian decided to try and ignore Dick but unbidden some questions he had considered over the course of his brief stay in Wayne Manor came to the forefront of his mind.

"The Wayne's have a lot of money and it's a big house so why do you only have one servant?"

"We don't need more servants. Bruce doesn't like having other people do his work for him. He can be a bit of a control freak like that. Alfred is still around because he's family and Bruce still doesn't know how to cook."

Damian looked at the package, which Dick was still stroking for some reason. "What's in that?"

"Oh, this?" Dick shifted the package and peeled off the wrapping a bit to reveal a speckled orb. Damian gasped.

"That's an egg!" He had never seen one up close before. He had learned about eggs and how pokemon were hatched but there had never been any reason for him to closely examine one.

"Yep! Carrying them around and keeping them close to you is supposed to help them hatch faster so I've been trying to carry him with me whenever I go out to do errands and stuff. The packaging is to protect him if something bumps him. Do you want to touch him?"

Damian nodded. He slowly reached out and put a hand on the exposed part of the egg shell. It was smooth and kind of warm. "You said him. How do you know it's a male?"

"Just a hunch."

"Well, Mr. Grayson, what are you doing back here? Please tell me you don't need me to heal your team again. You're supposed to be on vacation after all." A woman had approached Dick and Damian while they were absorbed with the egg. Damian quickly pulled his hand away and stuffed it back in his pocket.

The woman had light gray hair and wrinkly skin. She was wearing a white doctor's coat and had glasses.

"For once it's not me or my team. I'm here for this guy." Dick put his hand on Damian shoulder only for Damian to shove it off.

"Oh? And who are you young man?" The lady asked.

Damian sat up straight. "I'm Damian Wayne."

"Really now?"

"Yep!" Dick said. "He's my new brother."

Damian frowned. "I'm not- "

"We're here to get some basic blood tests to check against Bruce's. There's a possibility he's the biological father."

"He _is_ my father."

The woman took a closer look at Damian before smiling again. "Well we'd better verify that then shouldn't we? My name is Dr. Thompkins. I'm the head doctor for humans and pokemon at this pokecenter. Why don't you two follow me into the back?"

They pushed through the small crowd of people and pokemon to a door just behind the main counter. They went through it into a small lab space. Dr. Thompkins gestured to a chair and Damian sat down. Dick leaned on the wall behind him, holding his egg, rewrapped, in his arms. Dr. Thompkins got the needle and tubes for taking the blood sample out of a cabinet and sat in the chair next to Damian. "Has anyone explained to you how this works?"

Damian nodded.

"Okay. I'll get started then." She began to set up the equipment. "How old are you Damian?"

"He's eleven," Dick said when Damian refused to answer her.

"I see. So you'll be starting on your pokemon journey soon, correct? Are you going to be challenging the gyms or doing something else?"

"What would I be doing other than challenging gyms? That's the whole point of a pokemon journey!" Damian exclaimed.

"For some, yes. But not everyone likes fighting. You could get a pokedex from a professor and try to fill it and help with their research, for one thing. Other people just enjoy traveling with their friends. A pokemon journey is what you make of it."

"I'll be fighting. Like a real trainer."

"Personally, I've always thought making pokemon fight on our behalf is ridiculous." Dr. Thompkins sighed. "I find the rest of the world disagrees with me."

"Because we're right. Pokemon are for fighting."

"No. They are your friends.

"I'm going to have to agree with Dr. Thompkins on this one, kiddo. They're our friends. But fighting can be fun right." Dick smiled at Damian who returned it with a glare. "How much longer will this take Leslie?"

"Just one more minute." Damian looked down at his arm and was shocked to realize that there was a needle sticking out of it drawing blood. The doctor must have stuck it in while they were talking. "When I'm done you guys don't need to hang around. The results will come in after a few weeks. I assume I'm sending them to Wayne Manor?"

"Yep."

Leslie nodded. She removed the test tube of blood turned around to put it away. She soon came back and removed the needle and handed him a cotton pad to put on the puncture hole. "And you're done. Good job, Damian."

"You don't need to congratulate me for sitting here." Damian stood up. Now they could get out of here.

Dick was smiling (when wasn't he?) as they left the pokecenter. "It's a good thing we got that done quickly. Now I can show you Gotham! So is there anywhere in particular you want to go?"

 **Hello Again! So notes on this chapter, every region has it's legendary pokemon so the Justice Region has Nightwing and Flamebird. No one is actually sure if they exist. Yes, Dick named his Talonflame Robin. In the games pokecenters always just heal your pokemon and I always assumed they must provide some health services for humans too.**

 **This chapter is mainly to show how Damian is adjusting after being left in an unfamiliar place. He'll be starting his journey in a couple more chapters time. They still have some preparations to take care of.**

 **Feel free to leave questions and reviews.-Three Black Cats**


	3. Chapter 3

"Well, I'll be. If it isn't Richard Grayson." Dick paused in his rambled explanation of the history of Gotham City's clock tower gym, turning around to see who was speaking.

"Bollock!" Dick smiled. Since their appointment at the pokestop Dick had been dragging Damian around Gotham trying to find something the kid seemed interested in. He was determined to break through to Damian. The kid had been left in strange place he didn't know with strangers. He had to be at least a little bit scared. Dick was going to make sure he knew he was welcome and help him find a place in this family. Ideally, he could patch things up between Damian and Tim in the process. He tried to remain energetic and to get Damian engaged throughout the afternoon. But Damian refused to be engaged in anything. One can only fake enthusiasm for so long before the façade starts to collapse. Dick had hoped the gym would spark a reaction considering his interest in battling and his upcoming pokemon journey but so far, no dice.

Harvey Bollock came up to Dick shoved the rest of the donut he had been eating in his mouth, wiped his fingers on the front of his police uniform, and reached out to grab Dick's hand, shaking it vigorously as Dick scrambled to readjust is grip on his egg. "I haven't seen you since you got promoted to Bludhaven. Who's the kid?"

"This is Damian." Now how did he explain Damian's situation without making claims that may or may not be true but would spark half a dozen completely false rumors? "He's staying with Bruce in North Gotham."

Damian's frown, if possible, got worse. "I am his-"

"He only recently moved here, so I'm showing him the sites."

Bollock let out a whistle. "Not another one. I still don't understand how that doofus managed to raise you into a functioning adult."

"My father is not a doofus!"

Bollock sighed. "I mean that in the nicest way possible, kid. He is rather air headed, always running off and cancelling appointments at the drop of a hat. And to think, both his parents were world famous pokemon professors!" There was no comment on the fact that Damian considered Bruce his father. Well, Gotham had gotten used to the rich millionaire from the suburbs seemingly random adoption of kids over the years.

"-TT- I knew that."

"Well, you've done your research." Bollock turned back to Dick. "How are things in Bludhaven? That's near the Justice Pokemon League. Hey, Have you ever seen the Batman?"

"A couple times. It was…interesting." Awkward as Dick tried not to let on that he knew who was underneath the famous mask of the Justice Region's champion.

Damian seemed to perk up some at the mention of Batman. "Do you see him often?"

"Not really. It's mainly through work. Batman and the elite four are technically the head of the Justice reigion's law enforcement and they help out on cases where we need to fight some really tough trainers. Batman has taken a particular interest in the case against Team Lazarus, though no one knows why." Because of what happened to Tim and his previous relationship with Talia. And now Damian.

Damian was backing to frowning again. Maybe bring up the conflict between his mother's organization and the authorities wasn't the best idea.

"I'd love to stay and chat Dick, but I've got to get back to patrolling. You know you can't take a break for too long in this city."

"True." Dick laughed and waved as bollock headed back to work.

"Do you truly spend time with Batman?" Damian asked quietly. He almost sounded worried.

"A bit. Never for long."

"Are you…" Whatever Damian said next was lost in a muddle.

"I'm sorry? Could you repeat that?"

"Nevermind."

Dick tried to get Damian's question out of him but he had appearently decided not to ask it. Dick considered trying to tell Damian some stories about his ecounters with Batman since he seemed interested in him but he wasn't sure he could do that without letting on that Batman was Bruce. Damian still wasn't showing an interest in Gotham City's landmarks so Dick had ultimately given up and they had gone back to the park. From there they rode Talonflame back to the manor with the usual number of loops.

They landed in the garden and Dick sent Robin back into her pokeball. He turned to Damian. "Well, that was fun wasn't it?"

No response. Heck, at least at the pokecenter he'd been reacting and engaging with people. He seemed to have just settled into ignoring everyone.

They went inside to discover that Bruce was waiting for them in the main hallway.

"Good, you're here. We need to talk scheduling." Bruce said. He quickly waved them into his office. Tim was waiting there, slouched over in a chair. He had probably been waiting a while for them to come back. Sorry Tim.

Bruce sat down at his desk. "So I've been trying to sort out IDs and trainer passports for your upcoming journeys. I've already got Tim's put together but Damian's needs some work. Once we get the test results back from Leslie we can finish those. I'm hoping we can get it done before this Saturday which is when we were planning on having Tim leave. If not, we'll have to push the date back-"

"What?" Tim jumped up in his seat. "Bruce, I've been waiting over a year for this since the incident. You can't just tell me that we need to push back the date again!"

"It makes more sense for you to start your journey at the same time as Damian since you are both here."

"But Steph and I were planning on starting at the same time. We were going to travel together. I can't just quit on her short at such short notice!"

"You might have too." Bruce turned to Dick. "When did Leslie say she would have the results in by?"

Dick winced. "She said they could take a few weeks. I can ask her to make them a priority and she might get them done faster." It would probably still be too late for Saturday but it would get Tim on the road sooner. He was right, he had been waiting too long for this.

"Do that." Bruce looked back down at the papers on his desk. Tim gripped the edge of his chair, seething. Bruce looked back up again at Damian. "When Talia dropped you off she said you already have a starter. Is that true?"

Damian nodded.

"Good. That saves us one thing at least. I've already got a second region map and a second pokedex on order. Now is there something you want to say to your brother Damian?"

Damian frowned. "I have no brother. And if you mean that," He pointed at Tim. "I have no desire to interact with him."

Bruce gave Dick a look that to most would just be blank but to Dick clearly read, "I thought you could fix this." Well, sorry Bruce but one afternoon with a kid couldn't fix everything immediately. Especially when the kid was as stubborn as Damian was proving to be.

"Right, you all are free to go. I just wanted everyone up to date." Bruce stood up and left the office.

Tim stood up too, glaring at Damian. "Thanks a lot," he snarled and stormed out. Dick sighed. Maybe he could talk Bruce into letting Tim go at the usual time.

(linebreak)

A week passed. Saturday came and went. Tim spent a couple evenings on the phone with Stephanie Brown trying to figure something out as his anger at the unfairness of the situation increased. Dick went for walks with his egg and tried to spend time with both his brothers. Bruce worked. Damian spent more time in the gardens. He eventually found an entrance to one of the fabled caves filled with bat pokemon but the entrance was truthfully more of a hole in the ground than an entrance. He couldn't get in and Alfred refused to let him borrow some rope for what he called "unadvised spelunking."

That was fine. It wasn't like Damian needed his permission.

(linebreak)

After dinner the entire family went their separate ways. Alfred was cleaning up which meant he wasn't keeping an eye on the storage closet where supplies like rope were or the gardens. Thus, it wasn't hard to get the equipment he needed. With an escape rope flung over his shoulder and a flashlight in one hand he headed out.

When he reached the hole in the garden Damian looked around one last time to make sure he hadn't been seen. He tied one end of the escape rope to a sturdy branch on a nearby tree. Holding it tight in his hands he dropped into the hole.

He dropped into a tunnel that seemed to be sloping downwards towards the edge of the property. He paused to listen for any approaching pokemon and placed his hand on Goliath's pokeball. He could hear a vague rustling sound from where the tunnel sloped downward. There was something down there. Damian smiled to himself and, keeping one hand on the rope, headed off.

It occurred to Damian that he had no real plan beyond "find some zubats." They had held his interest since he had first heard of the extensive cave systems beneath the Wayne Mansion filled with the pokemon that had inspired that Batman costume. He had chosen his starter, Goliath, because he was the same kind of poekmon. Thinking about how his father's batman persona as the champion of the Justice League. He had known that his fahter's eldest stray was a police officer working in Bludhaven but it hadn't occurred to him that Richard would have meet Batman. Did he know who was under the mask. The thought of his father telling a random orphan his most important secret when his own mother had had to find out through investigation was upsetting.

It was pointless worrying about that. The zubats. Damian felt himself grow excited again. He could fight them. Yes, it would be good for Goliath to get some training in before they left to challenge the gyms. Yes, that as what he was doing. Not following some childish fancy for exploring but going on a training mission.

Damian took Goliath's pokeball out of his pocket and popped it open. Immediately a dark blur zipped out and started zooming around Damian's head.

"Calm down, you're embarrassing yourself."

Goliath took this as an invitation to settle himself upside down on the rope next to Damian's hand. At least he had stopped moving so Damian could look at him. It was…nice to see something familiar again.

"We are on a training expedition," He told the pokemon. "Keep on alert. Wild pokemon often rely on surprise to take their victims off guard."

"Zuuuubaaat."

"Good. Now let's go."

Damian inched slowly down the tunnel with Goliath alternatively fluttering around his head or resting on the rope Damian was holding. It was surprisingly quiet in the tunnels and Damian felt himself becoming tenser as he continued forward with no sign of any wild pokemon. There were supposed to be some down here but so far they had encountered none.

Up ahead a split in the path appeared. Seeing that the path on the right was narrower, Damian decided to head down the left path rather than risk hitting his head. But as he moved towards it Goliath let out a shriek and darted down the right path.

"No! Goliath, stop! Get back here!". What was he doing? That crazy zubat had always listened to Damian before. Damian crouched low to enter the right passage and followed him. "I swear if you don't get over here right now…"

"Did you hear something?"

Damian froze. Where had that voice come from? He looked around the passage slowly and saw Goliath perched on an overhang a couple feet ahead.

"Heard nothing. Z-bats?" A new voice.

Damian carefully made his way over to Goliath trying not to make any noise. It occurred to him that he was being a bit ridiculous. He was the son of Bruce Wayne and the speakers were probably trespassers. He should be confronting them and calling the authorities, not cowering. But he wasn't supposed to be in the cave either. Somehow he didn't think his father would see how catching a pair of minor criminals merited a lack of punishment. He had priorities about the weirdest things; like apologies.

"Probably. Or woobats. I thought most of those things had been chased off by now."

As Damian settled in next to Goliath he realized there was a small crack beneath the overhang that showed the interior of a cave. A surprisingly well-lit cave full of boxes. Damian pressed closer to the crack to try and see more. The cave was vast, he couldn't see the sides or the entrance, and the creates seemed to come in various sizes. He focused on one of the boxes close to his crack and saw the label was from a popular pokepuff bakery. Somehow he doubted that caves were proper storage spaces pokepuuffs.

Suddenly two figures passed in front of the crack and Damian involuntarily lurched back, barely managing to cut off a gasp. He could only see their torsos. One appeared to be a woman and the other a man. Both were wearing a dull red uniform that looked armored, the man's with blue accents and the woman's with gold.

"There I think these are the ones he wanted us to grab." The first voice. The woman. Damian would pay close attention to these trespassers so he could discover what scheme they were concocting with pokepuff crates and stop them. "I'll take the ones on the right and you take the ones on the left."

"Careful. Red-Him say be careful."

"We will. You got those?" The two bodies had moved around and they both seemed to be carrying a couple of crates. "Let's go."

The two figures moved away revealing that the pokepuff crates were gone. Behind where they had stood were more crates. These came from a pokecenter supply company. Did the different companies the crates came from have some kind of significance? Damian pondered that as the footsteps of the trespassers faded into the distance.

"ZUUUUUUBAAAAAAAT!"

Damian absolutely did not hit his head on the tunnel roof when he jumped. That bump came from something else. He definitely had not forgotten that Goliath was right next to him.

"I don't think," Damian muttered as he rubbed his not-bumped head. "That we are going to find any other zubats." He needed to think on this and decide what to do. He pulled out Goliath's pokeball and with a slight huff the zubat went back inside.

Damian followed the rope back to the hole he had come from and climbed out. He was surprised to notice that the sun had completely set while he was down there. He hurriedly wrapped up the rope and carried it back into the house.

Damian was completely unaware that he had been watched since he emerged from the cave. On the second floor of Wayne Manor a solitary figure paused in his dusting to watch Damian scurry across the gardens. He distinctly remembered telling the boy that he couldn't do that. But why did he even try? It was practically family tradition at this point. Every member of the family went on at least one journey through those caves though some seemed to enjoy it more than others. Bruce had fallen in once as a child and been scared so bad he refused to set foot near the entrance until his late teens. Dick, Tim, and Cassandra had found the caves to be good fun but never spent much time in them. Jason had tried mapping them.

Alfred wondered what had happened to those half finished maps.

 **Well, that took longer than planned.**

 **Pokemon leagues. Are they celebrities? Are they some form of government? How does government work in the pokemon world? In this world, since they are all based on superheroes, in addition to fighting to defend their titles they fight for justice.**

 **Batman's secret identity is a big secret no matter what the universe. The thing with Bruce falling into the bat cave as a child is based on a story from the comics.- ThreeBlackCats**


	4. Chapter 4

One week after Dick and Damian's trip to Gotham the blood test results. They confirmed what was on the DNA tests that Bruce had gone over with a fine-toothed comb for any hint that they may have been falsified: Damian al Ghul was Bruce Wayne's son.

Bruce probably should have expected this.

A knock at the door to his office drew Bruce out of his moment of reflection.

"Come in," He called as he picked up the newly verified documents to file with the adoption papers. Where else would it go?

He was a bit surprised to see that it was Tim who had come to speak with him and even more so that he had knocked. The last time Tim had done that was just after he moved in, and even the it was more of a formality.

"Bruce. I need to talk to you about my upcoming pokemon journey. I believe it to be of the upmost importance that I start as soon as possible regardless of if the brat is ready. For evidence I have-"

"That won't be necessary Tim, you're leaving tomorrow."

Tim burst into a sudden grin. "Really? That's great I should be able to catch up to Stephanie in Gotham City!"

"You can start gathering your stuff together. And could you please tell Damian to start getting his stuff together?"

"The brat is going as well? Of course he is." Tim groaned. "I couldn't possibly just think that you changed your mind."

Despite his muttering he turned around and left the room. Actually now that he was gone Bruce realized Tim may not have been the best choice to go find Damian. Hopefully nothing too bad would happen.

Bruce pulled open one of the bottom drawers of his desk and removed two packages. Standing up he tucked them both under his arm and went to make his way to the bedrooms but was surprised to run into Alfred in the doorway.

"Alfred? Is something wrong?"

"Young Master Tim just came through here equal parts thrilled and frustrated. When I asked him what was the matter he told me that you had decided to let the boys go on their journey. I assume this means that the letter that came in from Leslie had the results of Damian's blood test?"

"Yes, He's…well, he's who he claims to be."

"Your son?"

"Yes."

"Well?"

Well what? What did Alfred want him to say? That he was furious with Talia from hiding this from him? That a part of him wondered if she hadn't told him because when he'd learned of her connection to Team Lazarus he hadn't tried harder to talk to her and show her a way out? He had just blown up at her about lying and only realized that he could have tried to show her it was wrong; persuade her to leave them. But no, and now she was apparently one of their top ranking members. That there was seemingly no reason for her to leave Damian with them even if she wanted him to have a normal pokemon journey? He knew Team Lazarus was perfectly capable of near perfect fake identification.

"Knowing this information is true I can Damian properly and accurately registered in the system. He'll have a trainer passport by tomorrow morning." Express paperwork; one of the perks of being League Champion. "Where's Dick?"

"He's busy right now. The egg…"

Oh. Oh! Already? "Please let him know about the results when he's available."

"Of course."

At this moment their conversation was interrupted by the sound of squabbling coming towards them.

 _"Maybe if you weren't so-"_

 _"At least I'm not some pathetic-"_

 _"Why are you even-"_

At least they weren't fighting with their fists.

Alfred stepped out of the way of the door to let Tim and Damian into the room. Damian instantly turned his back on Tim to address Bruce.

"Now father," Was there some extra emphasis on the second word? Probably. "I have been told that you are convinced of my identity and are willing to let me go."

"Yes, I have gotten the tests verified." Bruce moved out from behind the desk and gave one package to each of them. "I've gotten you both a pokedex to help keep track of any pokemon you come across. It's also got a chat feature so please keep in contact."

"Oh, wow! This is the new model by Victor Stone! It's got increased processing power, pokemon from all the regions, and-" Tim cut himself off when he realized he was gushing. "Sorry."

"It's alright you were excited. Now, if either of you run into Cass or Duke while you are out there please say high and-"

"Whose Duke?" Damian interrupted. "I am familiar with this Cassandra you took in- a great battler but lacking in ambition- but I am unfamiliar with this Duke. You didn't take in another stray did you?"

Bruce sighed. He had hoped Dick would be able to break through that attitude before sending him out but it looked like that hadn't happened. "I didn't adopt him. His parents were in an accident and they needed someone to look after him and serve as an emergency contact even after he started his pokemon journey so I volunteered. Either way, if you two run into Cass or Duke please say hi."

"Sure," said Tim. Damian just snorted.

"I need you both to get up bright and early tomorrow. Damian you're dismissed unless you have anything else to say."

Damian turned around and left. Alfred caught Bruce's eye before nodding and ducking out, leaving Bruce alone with Tim.

Bruce walked up to Tim and put a hand on his shoulder. "Tim, I need to ask something important of you."

"I'm not delaying my pokemon journey again."

"That wasn't what I was going to ask. It's…You've noticed that Damian is…different."

"Bruce you can say he's a jerk." Tim huffed.

"He wasn't nice to you and I had hoped to remedy that before you left but unfortunately it doesn't seem to have worked."

"You mean you threw Dick at the problem because he's better at people than you."

"No." Maybe. It really hadn't been that obvious, had it? "I'm worried about him and sending him on this journey. Would you please look after him? Make sure he doesn't get in trouble?"

Tim's face twisted up. "You want me to be a babysitter."

"Please. His behavior and some of his mother's connections…." Bruce mentally debated telling Tim about Talia's career in Team Lazarus before deciding that considering Tim's history with the organization that may be a bad idea. "I'm worried he may not be entirely safe."

Tim crossed his arms and took a step away from Bruce. "A pokemon journey is supposed to be about going out in the world and discovering yourself not looking after some kid. Besides, you've heard him boasting about how trained and prepared he is. He'll be fine. But I will step in if I think someone is going to hurt him. And it will be because that's what a decent human being does, not because I'm his babysitter."

"He's your brother."

"Really? He's made it very clear he doesn't think so."

* * *

"Damian, can I please come in?" Dick had been knocking at Damian's door since around ten minutes after dinner. So far he had not seemed to have gotten the message that if Damian wasn't answering the door he wasn't wanted.

Well that's just too bad since Damian needs to get all his stuff together before tomorrow. He needed to go over everything his mother had given him for the journey to make sure no one in this house has managed to damage it. He had managed to gather everything together and check it over in a surprisingly short amount of time and now he couldn't shake off the feeling that he was missing something. Dick was distracting him from figuring out just what.

He looked over his bed where he had laid everything out. Pokeballs, potions, berries, snacks, money. He checked his pocket. Yep, Goliath was still there. Directly in front of him were two pokedexes; the one his father had given him that afternoon and one his mother had given him before sending him here. Maybe that was what was bugging him, not forgetting something but having something extra. Something would have to be done with it.

"It's important. I want to give you something before you leave tomorrow." Actually if Dick was going to give him something for the journey maybe he should open the door. Whatever it was could be useful. Hopefully not another pokedex.

Damian abandoned his current conundrum and walked to the door. He yanked it open when Dick was in mid-knockcausing him to blink in surprise before smiling at Damian. "Oh, good. Can I come in?"

"Just give me whatever it is you came to give me."

Dick reached into his pocket and pulled out a pokeball. He tossed it in the air and a fletchling burst out.

"This little fella is for you." He held out a finger and the fletchling landed on it. "I know you've got a starter but it's something of a tradition in our family for everyone to have one."

Damian just stared at it. "A silly bird? Very well, since it will evolve into a pokemon as powerful as a Talonflame. I could use one of those."

"There is actually a story behind this pokemon. You met my Talonflame, Robin, earlier. She was my first pokemon. My starter.

"I don't think you know this but my parents died when I was eight years old. They were supposed to help me pick out my first pokemon when I was ten years old. I had been looking forward to it since I was old enough to understand the concept of a pokemon journey. When my tenth birthday began to approach I realized my parents weren't going to be there to help me get my starter. Naturally this made ten year old me incredibly sad and I spent a good deal of time moping. Bruce noticed, of course, and tried to make me feel better. For the most part he failed. That was how I discovered why all the cooking is left to Alfred… Well, that's not really part of the story.

"Bruce then moved on to asking me questions trying to figure out what was wrong. He eventually got it out of me. After an incredibly emotional conversation he left on a work trip for a week." Dick shrugged as though this was no big deal but there was a tightness around his eyes. "He does that sometimes. I thought he had forgotten. Then he returned home suddenly and announced that we were going on a trip together. We went to Route 1 just outside of town and he told me we'd stay there until we caught the best feltchling in the area. That was when I really knew he meant it when he said I was family to him."

"So…You're giving me a bird to remind you of the time when my father made you feel welcome." Damian snorted. "That's stupid."

Dick shook his head. "Not exactly. I wasn't finish yet. You've never met him but… you heard of Jason, right?"

"He's the one who died." His mother had told him the story. Jason had been the second stray his father had taken in. Killed by an insane serial killer calling himself "The Joker" mid-way through his pokemon journey.

"Well…yes." Dick sighed. "This is about before he died. When he first joined the family. It was awkward. Neither Jason nor I knew how to deal with suddenly having a brother. We didn't really get along at first. We clashed a lot. Eventually we straightened ourselves out. When that happened Jason was about to go out on his pokemon journey-" Dick's voice caught but he forced himself to go on. "I helped him catch a pokemon. A fletchling. It's sort of become tradition since then. Everyone in the family has one of the flecthling evolutionary line, even Bruce and Alfred."

Damian stared at the bird on Dick's finger. "So…Drake has one of these as well."

"Yes. Because you are both part of our family."

Damian snorted.

"Aren't you going to take him?"

Damian sighed and reached out his hand to grab the pokeball from Dick. The fletchling saw the approaching hand and eagerly flew over and landed on it. Damian froze. How was he supposed to get it back in the pokeball now?

Dick laughed. "He likes you. Are you going to give him a name?"

Damian began to awkwardly move his finger with the fletchling on it towards the pokeball. "Why would I?"

"Well, why wouldn't you?"

Damian stared at the bird pokemon and uncomfortably noticed that it was staring back at him. "Jerry," He blurted out and immediately regretted it.

But Dick was smiling. "That's a lovely name!" He said, completely ignoring all the reasons it was a stupid and childish name.

Damian shoved his finger towards the pokeball. The newly named Jerry seemed to get the hint and flew into the pokeball, settling in to wait.

* * *

 **Kids in the pokemon games get released into the world around 11 years old and then they're just...on their own? I figured there has to at least be some sort of emergency contact system in place so while the kids are on their own they still have someone responsible for them who looks after them from a distance and can be contacted in case something happens. This is the role Bruce is filling for Duke, since his parents aren't able to. He isn't an official part of the family but Bruce treats him like he is.**

 **In the games your character gets their first pokemon from a professor but it's got to be a huge milestone for the kid, right? In this universe most starter pokemon are gifts from parental figures or was caught with help from the parents. There are exceptions to this though.**

 **I hope you all are enjoying the story! -ThreeBlackCats**


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